The Sky encompasses all and ridiculousness is just part of it
by Magical Hippo
Summary: AU!Yuni finds herself in a universe where magical mafia is a thing but it's not that different from where she came from. Or a more apt description: a college student prioritising the wrong choices they think are right and probably should get a life.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary** : AU!Yuni finds herself in a universe where magical mafia is a thing but it's not that different from where she came from. Or a more apt description: a college student prioritising the wrong choices they think are right and probably should get a life.

/

This is dedicated to the people I know. You'd get what I mean.

And even if I don't know you... well:

For those who are suffering through college/uni life, or who have already graduated but are still dying from the after effects, this is for you.

To the other passing by readers, I hope you'll enjoy reading this fic of mine.

/

 **Disclaimer** : KHR is Amano Akira's. This is called fanfiction for a reason.

 **Warnings** : It's AU!Yuni, not Canon!Yuni. AU!Yuni goes into another universe and that's the canon KHR universe. Soooo it's AU in canon.

How I think about universe, dimension and worlds: Parallel worlds are separated by different dimensions. All parallel worlds happens in a universe. So in the canon KHR universe is the magical rainbow mafia where Yuni is heavily involved in. But this AU!Yuni is not involve with any mafia except for her blood ties. She's just a normal civie with somewhat omniscient powers of divination.

Too bad blood ties get people into trouble and, well, Yuni is a Sky. Either way it's you find trouble, or trouble finds you. Heh.

/

 **Edit (1/5/2018)** : Fixed a few missing words here and there.

* * *

Yuni wakes up in an old-looking tomb.

It is filled with many sealed coffins that are thick with grime and there are dust motes dancing about in the musty air. There is warm light seeping through the cracks in the walls, lighting up the place, and it makes her hand itch to paint at the sight before her. There are all sorts of patterns embellishing the walls and ceilings; the ornament looks like it had been delicately carved onto the structure with painstaking details.

It is a very beautiful place to wake up in, had it not for the fact that this is a foreign place.

She is very sure that she has never been here before.

Yuni remembers being in her room. The numbed pain tingling at her toe is a proof of that and it is also a reminder that she has yet to clean up the books that are scattered across the floor. She remembers tucking herself in the safe warmth of her comfy bed.

And then now here she is, on a bed that clearly isn't hers, in a tomb.

It is all really strange.

She swings her legs over the bed and gently places her bare feet on the floor. Her face contorts with disgust when she felt the soft sliding of dirt against her skin and immediately brings her legs closer to her. The action leaves two neat lines on the dust covered floor and she stares at it with growing horror. The place is really dirty - dirtier than her room could ever be even with all her things lying about everywhere it could occupy. Yuni swears that her home has never been this filthy, not to mention the fact that she did not sweep or mop the floor for weeks. And her apartment is facing the nearby main road too, where the soot from the vehicles can easily drift into her place.

She gulps and something is creeping inside her. Her throat tightens uncomfortably, her heartbeat is getting louder with every passing second as it pounds rhythmically against its confined cage, and everything suddenly seems to be looming over her.

This is not home. She is not in her room. She does not hear any sound akin to passing vehicles. This is a foreign place. She has no clue where this is.

The realisation has finally sunk in deep and Yuni feels light-headed.

Where the hell is she?

.

.

.

When she opens her eyes, Yuni expects to find herself on the other side of her bed with her legs locked in a tangle mesh with the covers. Instead she is met with the sight of dull walls and a strangely familiar-looking ceiling. It looks exactly like the one in her dream —

She shoots out of the bed and sits upright as she stares at her surroundings with wide eyes.

She had passed out, she realises, and this is not a dream because, as far as she knows from personal experiences, she does not recall that one can pass out inside a dream. Or so she would like to think.

Pain bloom at her right cheek and she looks down at the reddening hand that she has slapped herself with. She could feel the pain. This is really, really not a dream. And somehow, that makes everything scarier than before.

Her fingers latch onto the side of the bed as she moves to sit upright once more. Something clings onto her skin beneath her touch and Yuni's face scrunches in disdain when she sees her hands. Grey filth littered across the skin and she quickly swipes her hands on her dress. They stuck to her like those persistent paint stains on her shirts that took hours to get rid of. Her mint green sundress now has grey smuts from her hands and she deflates with regret.

She slowly steps out of her makeshift tomb bed and chews at her lower lip whenever the dust scratches underneath her bare feet. Yuni wishes those sudden epiphany to hit her again to explain her circumstances.

Where is she? Why is she here? How did she get here? What's the time now — _shit_ , she has a group presentation coming up within two weeks, the progress of which is crawling at a snail's pace because no one has gotten anything done much and she has been busy for the past month starving away to do commissions to earn a living (her monthly rent pay due date was also closing onto her), and that project work costs her _twenty-five percent_ of her final semester marks!

Yuni needs to find out where she is _now_ , or she'll start tearing her hair out of her scalp.

She quickly speed across the room towards an old-looking wooden door and presses her hands against it. There is metal rattling in the air and, even when she pounds her small fists at it, the door refuses to budge.

Cursing under her breath, Yuni spins around looking for something, _anything_ , to help her get out of this nasty, dirty place.

She really needs to get home as soon as possible and get that project work done, or otherwise she's going have to graduate this year and she doesn't have a stable job. She'll become a full NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) except that she does not leech of her mother's money, but instead it is her very own accumulated savings from regular commissions and her daily part-time job — both of which she has quit recently to focus on her studies — that will be drained.

Yuni really doesn't want to do anything with her mother. Something in her gut feeling tells her it is trouble and Yuni's life is already trouble enough with all those strange visions that could predict the near, or far-off future that may, or may not happen.

She knows that her mother cares about her but... it felt off. Like Yuni wasn't family enough other than the blood ties connecting them. As if her mother already has another family. That's why, in retaliation, Yuni decides that it will be fair enough if she got out of her mother's skin and live on her own.

Till this day, ever since the young age of seven, Yuni still does not know why her mother is so willing to leave her alone, why she is always not home to play the parental figure like she's supposed to do, and those dreams and flash of blood every time Yuni goes to sleep, or sees when she blinks at her mum did not do anything to help.

Mother and daughter strain away from each other so far apart that Yuni could probably take one look at her when they pass by in the streets and probably brush her off as a stranger.

So, _no_ , Yuni will not accept any money from her mother, if she could even call that person anything than a mother who gave birth to her. Besides she has been living in a rather nice apartment with a good roof (that does not leak with water when it rains, thank goodness) for about a few years now. And while there is the fact that she is always rushing to meet her monthly rent payment and almost never getting any of her household chores done, that's not as important as having a roof above her head and having other basic necessities.

She's twenty-two, one year passed the age of becoming an adult in society's eyes, and is very independent. If Yuni can't get out of this place, then she really needs to reconsider every single life decisions she has made in life and probably needs to finish that project work.

There is a glint of silver at the corner of her eyes as she turns while pacing around the tomb looking for a tool to get out and she stops to stare.

She stares longer and then blames her sleep-deprived brain for not noticing something as simple as the door having a bolted lock chain holding it in it's place is the reason why she can't open the door.

Well that certainly explains why there was so much noise when she tried to open the door.

Yuni grabs a nearby rock that seems sharp and looks sturdy enough and cracks it against the bolted lock to break the rusty chain. It seems worn with age enough to be able to break it with some tools, she thinks to herself. The grey rock crumbles easily beneath the force after a few poundings but she isn't going to give up now. Not when she has a deadline due within two freaking weeks time!

She's not going to let some stupid lock bring her efforts down. No, like hell will she ever going to let that time spent on meeting her rental fee payment be wasted on something as a lock. Her four-years degree course is depending on her and _she does not want to just graduate with a diploma at third year just because of a fucking, dumb lock! She wants her second-class (preferably first-class, but that's just called having unrealistic expectations of herself) honor!_

As fast as a cobra, her hand shoots out to grab another rock and starts hammering away at the lock. The rock crumbles just as easily as the previous, but Yuni keeps going on: taking another rock and smashing it at the lock.

It is only after a long time and coupled with a few dozen more rocks that Yuni blinks, _sees_ and finds an angle to jam the rock into with all the strength she could muster when the lock chain finally falls apart and Yuni, with now dirtied, bloodied-scratch hands, can push open the goddamned door.

Yuni feels something inside her break when all she sees beyond the wooden door is a huge meadow with a few trees stretched across the area.

Her brain shuts down and all mental processing stops just as it echoes out to her about something she has forgotten in the midst of panic. Where the fuck is she?

And more importantly, how did she even forget that she has a written essay portion due in four days time?

Wait, _what_.

"...Yuni, Yuni, Yuni," she chants to herself, her soft voice shaking as that sudden reminder her mind has helpfully supplied right before it collapses from overuse after being so unhelpful throughout her college years dawned upon her. It didn't even give her a single clue on as to where she is. "What is the topic of that essay?"

* * *

I hope you've enjoyed reading this.

A quick question: do college students remain sane, or gain back their sanity after college life?

Please leave a review on your way out!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary** : AU!Yuni finds herself in a universe where magical mafia is a thing but it's not that different from where she came from. Or a more apt description: a college student prioritising the wrong choices they think are right and probably should get a life.

/

Thank you to those for favouriting and following this story!

To readers, I hope you'll enjoy this fic of mine!

/

* * *

Yuni has no idea where she is.

She's finally out of the meadow and the sky that was just a pale blue canvas when she first set out is now filled with grey clouds with yellow highlights.

There's a village up ahead and Yuni is hesitant.

She lived in a city that is covered in toxic air of the many passing vehicles, not in some rural area that is deprived of much advanced technology she is accustomed to. But that seems to be where she exactly is now.

There is something clogging up her throat and she swallows it. She needs information as to where she is. To get that information, she needs to talk to people.

When was the last time she actively seek out and communicate with other human beings other than discussing about work, studies and games?

Yuni kicks a stray pebble away and gnaws on her lower lip. She stops and rubs a finger at her lip to smooth out the wrinkles. That bad habit still hasn't gone away despite her best efforts.

"Might as well get this over and done with." She murmurs under her breath. Yuni slowly trudges up the small mound and walk towards the village with the impending deadline of all her work weighing on her shoulders.

The sooner she finds a way back home, the sooner she can start on that stupid, terrible essay and that project work she hasn't touched for about a month.

The first being she sees is a kid and she ignores him in favour of finding an adult. She really doesn't want to make her situation worse by talking to a child. Who knows what would happen if she gets mistaken for a kidnapper, or worse—a _paedophile_?

Not to mention kids are so difficult to deal with. Yuni is speaking from her personal experience when a college friend of hers decided it was an extremely excellent idea to make use of her 'natural charm' for her community service work in a kindergarten.

Just because children find her easier to approach than the other geeks who were there doesn't mean that they were any more less frightening.

Yuni shivers inwardly at the memory of the demonic spawns of Satan drooling after her.

Just like the rest of the human beings, she's not going to deal with children unless she absolutely has to. Yuni is fair and therefore, she plays fair. Equal treatment to all.

"Hello," she says with a bright, friendly smile to the first man she sees. "I'm lost and I am wondering if you could tell me how to get to Nishishinjuku Go Choume Station—"

 _"What?"_ The man breathes into her face eloquently. He grimaces a bit and looks at her. _"Sorry, I don't speak your language. Girly, you should've stuck to your group, or your tour guide, or something."_

Yuni blinks. The smile is frozen stiff on her face. What.

The man turns and shouts something at the huts behind him. Yuni mentally rubs her poor ears at his deafening volume. She thinks he is calling for help. He turns back to her and asks, _"Do you even speak Italian?"_ He sighs. _"This is why I hate foreigners, always getting themselves lost..."_

 _"Uh, I know how to speak in Italian. It's my native tongue."_ Yuni offers. The words are foreign on her tongue. She hasn't spoken Italian since she entered college. That was about three years ago. _"Sorry about the inconvenience. Uhm. I just need to know where am I and how do I get to the city?"_

Yuni prays she doesn't sound weird. It feels weird speaking a language she doesn't even use on a daily life basis nowadays because she's currently living in Japan, not Italy—

Wait. Japan. Italy.

She should be in Japan, right? Wow, Yuni never knew that people living in the rural areas in Japan actually speak Italian. This is such an amazing discovery! Yuni should've spend more time going out and exploring the world—

What bullshit.

Why is she in the western side of the world when she's supposed to be at the eastern side?

Also, wait, wait, _wait_. She can't be sure if she's at Italy because there's like so many other countries that speaks Italian—

No, stop. Yuni grew up in Italia. She should know this best. Even if her brain is failing her and dragging all her common sense down into the gutter with it.

This is Italy. Probably. Just not the region she was born and raised in.

 _Yeah, let's just go with that_ , her mind says.

 _"You don't look native. Half?"_ The man squints at her. Yuni's smile falters slightly. _"I think so."_

The man clicks his tongue at her. _"You should find out more about your roots."_

 _"You are near the mountain region. The city is far away from these areas, but there are some towns nearby. You can board the trains there to get to the city."_ The man tells her. He waves away a small group of people that is approaching them and then he points her to the direction of the nearest town.

 _"Thank you,_ " she says gratefully. _"Uhm, how much does a train ticket costs?"_

* * *

Yuni is a stupid, stupid woman.

She has no money on her and is about to buy a train ticket.

Yuni feels stupid and probably looks stupid, too.

 _"Sorry,"_ she smiles apologetically at the ticketing officer and ducks out of the line.

Yuni worries her mint green sundress between her sweaty hands and chews at her bottom lip. Her dress is now dirtied with dust from being in that old tomb and blood from the cuts on her hands.

She should have been smarter about this. She woke up in a foreign place; she obviously won't have any money on her. The probability of being robbed is extremely high.

With that said, she still doesn't know why the hell is she doing in _Italy_ when she went to bed in her apartment in _Japan._ She didn't know the kidnappers are so cruel to ship her off to another country when she has deadlines to meet.

Wait, maybe her kidnappers are nice people. They gave her a chance to escape from her hectic college life, after all.

Yuni looks up at the sky stretched above her. There are streaks of orange lining across the grey-blue background. It's going to be dusk soon.

She _still_ doesn't know where she is other than the fact that she's in Italy. Before today, she has never seen or heard of the name of the town she is in. Maybe she'd know which city the trains here lead to once she arrives at the said city.

She could probably make her way back home from there. Hopefully.

But Yuni is a college student who is really in a desperate need of money, and she can't buy any train ticket to the city.

Also, she has to fly back to Japan even though she clearly has no cash to buy a plane ticket.

...how long is the trip from Italy to Japan?

Yuni heaves a sigh, her shoulders slumping forward as she walks to a corner. Her eyes are watering and she has never feel this hopeless before. Not even when she received her end of second year semester results with a barely passing grade.

She hates being alone in a foreign place. She wants to go somewhere safe. She wants to go home — back to where her apartment is.

A sob escapes her as she squats down with her head between her knees and wraps her arms around them. Her chest feels painful and her nose is stuffy.

A howling wind blows and the sound is as hollow as her soul. Yuni looks up and sees her blurred reflection in the dull metal pole before her. Her dark teal coloured hair is flying about messily and her bangs are all over her snotty, red face.

She tries to make out of what she could see in her reflection and combs her dirtied fingers covered with small cuts that has blood flaking at the ends through her hair and rearranges it back. Her hair has finally grown past her shoulders, Yuni realises, after she has cut a chunk load of it away because her previous hairstyle made her look like a doppelganger of her grandmother whom she has only seen in pictures.

It felt so creepy and weird to look exactly like someone even if that someone is her family. Yuni assumes the genes are strong in the blood. But that doesn't mean she has to accept it and there is no need for something like a hairstyle to remind Yuni of a deceased stranger every time she looks into a mirror.

(...Yuni ignores the voice whispering to her that it was also probably because of her hairstyle that made her mother ignore her. She resembled Luce way too much.)

Too busy with school and work, she did not have the time to stop and take a proper look at her appearance. Her once cropped short hair is now long again and she will not be easily mistaken for the wrong gender.

She... will probably look more like her mother now, from what she can make out of her somewhat blurred reflection, should she ever braid her hair back and tie it up like how her mother does.

It feels strange to look like mother, she thinks. Yuni has never been close with her and doesn't see why she should feel sentimental at the thought of her now.

She shifts her fringe back, tucks it behind her ear and opts to look at the floor. She sees her soiled dress and shaking arms instead. Another wind blows and her hair is in a mess again, but Yuni doesn't feel like adjusting her appearance again.

The sundress is sleeveless and offers her no protection against the cold; Yuni shivers involuntarily as another breeze welcome her in its arms. Her stomach throws its two cents in and makes an embarrassing, loud noise.

She hugs herself tighter, presses her trembling lips together and, just like her arms, her whole body starts to shake.

Yuni is lost, broke and feeling utterly useless. She doesn't know what to do.

* * *

Please leave a review on your way out!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary** : AU!Yuni finds herself in a universe where magical mafia is a thing but it's not that different from where she came from. Or a more apt description: a college student prioritising the wrong choices they think are right and probably should get a life.

/

Thank you to those for favouriting and following this story!

To readers, I hope you'll enjoy this fic of mine!

/

* * *

By the time she gets her bearings together, the sky has darken considerably. Yuni could barely make out the faint, hazy hue of the orange glow of the sun setting in the horizon.

She wipes her tears away with her forearm and stands up with resolve glazing her eyes.

There's no point moping around and wasting precious time. Time that she needs to complete her essay. Time that is ticking away with her marks.

The very few streetlights lining the desolated narrow road of the town have started to flicker, casting dim spotlights onto the ground. Yuni carefully lingers around them without getting too close to the light and tries to walk with a calm gait.

She looks around and sees many shopkeepers are retiring for the day, some shophouses are already closed. Her heart beats loudly against her chest and she gulps nervously.

It's going to be nightfall and she is out alone in the streets. Yuni prays fervently that she will stumble across a shopkeeper who is nice enough to let her stay for the night.

She brings up her shaking hands to herself but stops and let them fall back to her side. She doesn't want to look too vulnerable.

The back of her head feels tight, her strained eyes feel puffy, but she tries to ignore it. Yuni takes a deep, calming breath, exhales, and moves forward.

Going up to a nearby, still open shophouse, she knocks politely on the door and opens it. She takes notice of the bread sign hanging on the glass window and her stomach is not disappointed when the faint yet distinct aroma of freshly baked bread wafts towards her.

There's a man at the counter with the standard white chef hat and she bows slightly at him.

 _"Pardon my intrusion, sire."_ She begins, inwardly crossing her fingers. _"I... need a place to stay for the night and uhm, I'm hoping that you'd allow me to do so. I promise I'll not cause you any other trouble!"_

The spoken language still feels very off on her tongue from it's long term of disuse but it is better than speaking a tongue that no one can understand.

The man takes one look at her and Yuni deflates visibly when she recognises what his eyes convey when she meets his gaze.

Yuni knows she shouldn't expect someone to help house a _stranger_ for a night. Especially when you've only met them for a few seconds.

He kicks her out of his shop in the blink of an eye but gives her a strange mixed look of pity and annoyance as she leaves.

The next shop has a shoe sign hanging on it's door. The cobbler leers at her when she enters and begins speaking to him. Yuni is extremely relieved when he, too, tells her to get out of his shop.

She continues her journey trying to find a place to stay for the night.

But as each shophouse she goes in and gets rejected increases, Yuni gets more and more frayed.

The shopkeepers either tend to seemingly reach out to her with questionable intent, or give her an indescribable look that she can't quite place her finger on. The twenty-two year old could only conclude that she is neither safe inside a shophouse, nor outside in the streets.

There's no dash of bright colours in the sky anymore and Yuni feels extremely cold. Her stomach churns uncomfortably and growls at her. She rubs her hands together and brings herself close.

Her head is ringing and she feels exhausted. The idea of sleeping in the trees tempts her greatly but Yuni has no idea how to climb a tree or whether it could even fully support her weight. There's also the thought of falling out of the tree when she sleeps.

She really needs to find a place to stay for the night.

Weary eyes flick up to the remaining shophouses lining of what it seemed to be the end of the town. The pit in her stomach drops further and it keeps sinking and coiling in her gut. She follows the guide of the dimly lit streetlights and shuffles to the shophouses that still seem to have people inside.

Her feet screams at her with every movement, her sandals scraping noisily against the pavement as she drags herself to the door. Just like the others, she knocks on it and enters.

She is greeted with the sight of a large group of men chucking beers down their throat and freezes at the entrance. Yuni's eyes widen with horror when they turn to look at the newcomer: her.

 _"Oh, what's this?"_ A man suddenly appears beside her and she jumps out of her skin. He brings his face closer and stares deeply into her eyes. He grins.

Yuni steps back towards the door warily. _"I'm sorry for intruding!"_ She bows quickly and makes a turn for the door.

A rough hand grabs her arm and Yuni bites back a scream when she is pulled away from the door. Tears quickly form in her eyes and she could feel the men's laughter resonating in the room as they pass her down like a ragged doll.

All their attention are on her and she struggles to move towards the exit. Darkness creeps into her vision and all Yuni could see is the men looming over her and —

Yuni screams.

She pushes her way out, even when hands are patting down against her back, ruffling her hair, and the men are talking nothing but incomprehensible words, and she reaches out for the exit that is slipping away from her.

She barely notices the bartender reaching out for her with worried eyes and only cries even harder when more hands made a grab for her. Something is tugging at her dress and it rips apart the fabric when she lunges herself at the table, knocking away the beverages.

Glass bottles shatter, tables are overturned, chairs are flying about and now there's more people coming after her, both men and women alike. Yuni wretches her body out of the hand-like confines and runs for the door.

She slams into it and it opens for her, casting her out into the dark streets. Her knees dig harshly when she slides across the floor and there's blood trickling down her legs but Yuni could not feel the pain.

The last thing she sees as her head cracks against the pavement is an albino man with a strange purple tattoo under his left eye watching her at the side in the bar.

For a very strange reason, even though Yuni is so far away from the man, she could see the man's purple eyes widening as he mouths something very familiar to her.

She hears his voice ringing in her head with clarity.

 _"Yuni-chan?"_

Darkness claims her, and she falls deep into the abyss.

.

.

.

Yuni snaps her head up and her eyes are on a wild search as she quickly stands up but all she sees is a familiar looking ticketing office booth at the corner and a metal pole facing her.

Her face is wet, she notices, and she rubs away the tears with her forearm. It doesn't stop flowing. She rubs harder until the skin on her face feels sore and lets her hands fall limply to her side.

Everything hurts.

She could still feel the hands ghosting around her skin, taunting and haunting her. Her chest is too tight and everything is so constricting like it's about to swallow her whole. She could hear her heart pounding erratically in her ears.

Yuni hugs herself and looks down at her feet. She inwardly reprimands her stupid self for not looking at where she was going. No matter how tired she is, she should've known better to walk into a bar of all things.

People gather there. A lost woman like her will definitely attract unwanted attention.

...Yuni just wants to go back home.

She blinks and there is a wave of something akin to trepidation crashing down at her.

 _Look up_ , a disembodied voice suddenly whispers in her mind.

She stares at her legs with a sense of foreboding. Tremor shakes her hands as she slowly lifts up the hem of her sundress.

There's no blood on her knees. There's no wound. Like she has never scraped them when she fell against the rocky pavement.

 _Look up_ , the voice repeats.

Yuni lifts her head to the sky.

It is still evening.

* * *

Please leave a review on your way out!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary** : AU!Yuni finds herself in a universe where magical mafia is a thing but it's not that different from where she came from. Or a more apt description: a college student prioritising the wrong choices they think are right and probably should get a life.

/

Thank you to those for favouriting and following this story!

To readers, I hope you'll enjoy this fic of mine!

/

* * *

Yuni hurries down the narrow road, past the bakery and all the other shophouses she _knows_ will reject her, and heads straight for the ones which she didn't get to _see_ if she could stay in for the night. She promptly ignores every dazed looks craving for attention directed to her way.

The migraine gnawing at the back of her head was subtle at first but now she really needs some painkillers for it. It didn't felt this bad before when she had a vision.

Just like what she has anticipated with what her vision showed her about others, the shopkeepers turn her down albeit with strange hesitance and Yuni quickly makes her way further to the end of the town for the last few shophouses.

It is dusk and Yuni is sure that she doesn't want to experience the same thing in her vision again.

While internally relieved that her strange sight of divination or whatever of sorts is helping her out, Yuni wonders why it wasn't as useful when it comes to her exams. She could've gotten better GPA (Grade Point Average), damn it!

Yuni scowls and mentally berates herself. Cheating is bad. She tries not to delve into the temptation of being able know what to write for her papers. Cheating is _bad_ , she parrots to her brain.

She is halfway across the row of shophouses opposite of the familiar-looking bar when an uncomfortable yet not exactly unwelcoming warmth seeps into her chest. It feels like comfort and safety. Like home. _Down ahead_ , something tells her, _the antique shop round the corner_.

Her feet gets the better of her and, the next thing Yuni knows, she's standing at the entrance of a shabby-looking antique shop. Her head is throbbing painfully and her stomach is churning nonstop.

(She never notices a pair of purple eyes staring at her retreating form in a distance at the opposite far end of the street.)

She raps her knuckles against the door and pushes it open. There is a faint drawl of white fog crawling out of the door and Yuni shivers. There is mist coming out of the shop. But something inside her tells her it's okay.

She pushes the entrance wider and steps into the shop. Much like how it looks from the outside, the inside looks like it has barely enough to keep it together.

Objects looking to be of decent quality, or what she could make out from the dim light of the lamp hanging above her, line the crooked shelves, completed with cobwebs decorating the edges. The few windows of the shop are tinted white and there are dust motes dancing about in the faint orange hue of sunbeam from the setting sun and under the pale yellow spotlight of the lamp. In short, this place is utterly filthy.

Yuni is honestly surprised that the air doesn't have a stale stench. Her nose wrinkles. It is very dusty, however.

 _"Hello? Is there anybody here?"_ She calls out, because that's called having manners and the sign hanging at one of the windows does say the shop is still open. Someone has to be in here.

There is shuffling of footsteps coming from above and Yuni braces herself. A tongue darts out to moist her lips as she runs through a series of Italian sentences in her head.

But nothing could've prepared her for a man with a mop of shaggy white hair, dressed in a cloth that is _clearly_ a yukata, popping out of nowhere as he stares down at her with a pair of round glasses.

" _What_."

She blinks at the man before her.

...Why is he wearing a _yukata_ of all things in Italia?

" _What_ ," the man repeats flatly, and Yuni echoes the word back at him rather dumbly.

He looks really stupefied at her and she doesn't know what she has ever done wrong to garner such a look.

The man coughs and a mask falls into place as he gives her an assessing look. "What are you doing here, Yuni?"

Heavy wariness sinks into her gut and she takes a step back.

"How do you know my name?"

The man scrunches his nose and the glasses glint under the dim lighting. He taps his left cheek. "The tattoo. You look like Aria and Luce. And your flames signature."

Yuni absent-mindedly rubs a hand against the flower tattoo on her cheek.

"Flames signature?"

He squints at her and murmurs in an undertone. "Your Flames feel a little different."

Yuni is confused. But from the looks of it, she is not the only one.

Then the man's gaze suddenly sharpens at her and Yuni shakes under the intensity. "Are you my mother's friend?" She asks instead, because she hasn't seen this man in her entire life yet he knows of her name just by looking at her tattoo which is one of the common traits she has with Aria. He also clearly knows Luce and Aria if he relates her appearance to them and... flames signature?

Suddenly, there is a surge of hope flooding her veins. If this man is her mother's friend then maybe he could help her out? Yuni pauses. The hope dies out just as quickly as when it came. She cannot get her hopes up too quickly.

 _But then..._

She frowns inwardly.

 _What flames signature? Why is this man talking about flames? And since when do flames have signatures?_

There is a beat of silence. "...I thought Aria's daughter is only twelve." He says.

"Uhm, sorry but I'm twenty-two?"

The man blinks and there is a dawn of understanding in his eyes. Yuni is getting more and more confused.

"What year is this?" he suddenly asks.

She gives him a strange look but answers his questions nonetheless.

He shoots off questions after questions at her and Yuni answers them all. She doesn't know why she's so willing to answer this stranger; it's like she's being compelled to answer him and it terrifies her. Why is her mouth running like this? Her gut feeling, on the other hand, tells her that she can trusts this man.

 _(He is family_ , a voice whispers into her soul, _he is kin._ Yuni pays no attention to it. She has long learnt how to tune out weird things thanks to her crazy mind that seems to be able to predict possibilities of a future that may or may not come. _)_

Yuni is utterly lost. But the more she thinks about this man before her, she keeps getting flashes of a man with a creepy mask and her heart hurts as if it is being gouged out.

( _Kin_ , the voice tells her with desperate longing. _He is kin._ )

The man asks very strange questions at first, to which she answer with an honest 'I don't know what you're talking about'. He stares at her for a moment and she feels extremely unnerved. Something deep down inside her told her that everything is okay. Yuni would really like to believe it. The man then asks of her life, how is her mother doing and something about Giglio Nero.

She responds with: "I'm fine; just trying to get past college. I don't know how is my mother doing — I haven't seen her in a long while." Though 'a long while' might be a bit of an understatement. She hasn't seen her mother since she was seventeen. It has been five years since she has even talked to her mother. (But, to be honest, Yuni doesn't even remember holding a proper conversation with Aria often. Aria was always busy and rarely has time for her.)

Also, Yuni has no idea what is 'Giglio Nero' and she tells him exactly that. Yuni has no idea why he looks taken aback by her answer. Actually, she can't tell. His face is blank but she really thinks that he is shock. Why, she has no idea. Is this 'Giglio Nero' something she should know about? The man remains silent for a moment.

Then, he asks her: "Do you know a man called Gamma?"

The name sounds familiar. But Yuni couldn't put a face to it. She thinks back and tries to recall where she has heard the name before...

Suddenly a distant memory of her wandering around the house back when she was living with her mother in Venice plays out in her mind's eye. Her mother had been talking to the phone and she called the person whom was on the other side of the phone 'Gamma'.

"I think not? But I heard mother mentioning him a few times back at home." She smiles hesitantly.

There is another beat of silence as the man remains impassive. He heaves out a sigh and drags a hand through his shock of white hair. His face is pinched and Yuni really has no clue what is going on.

"Name's Kawahira," the man introduces himself to her. "And I'm your... uncle."

As the name that clearly doesn't sound anything like Italian registers into her brain, Yuni finally realises that they have been speaking in Japanese for a while now.

Wait a moment. He's her _what_?

"This is so troublesome." The man, Kawahira, sighs heavily and shakes his head. He looks resigned. It feels like he is contemplating about his own life. "I didn't expect the abnormality that appeared in this world to be you."

What is this crazy man dressed in a _yukata_ in Italia who can barely manage his dusty, antique shop talking about?

Her face probably is an open book with all her emotions because the man takes one look at her and sighs even more.

"Well, it'd be slightly incorrect to say I'm related to you because, as far as I know, all the parallel worlds throughout the dimensions, you are always bound to be part of the Giglio Nero by the age of ten." The man rattles off, continuing bulldozing through her confusion like it doesn't matter at all. "So that means you're not any of the Yuni from this universe but you have Sepira's blood running through your veins — that I can tell — which means you're somewhat still related to me?"

What the _fuck_ is this man going on about?

The man taps a finger on his chin.

"Well that explains why your flames feel a bit different: you're a Yuni from another universe. But ever since I removed the Arcobaleno Curse throughout the dimensions, there has been some slight changes in the parallel worlds. So maybe you're a Yuni from a world that is born out of a miracle from resolving the Arcobaleno Curse? You're twenty-two so which means you can only get here by the ten years bazooka."

He stops, shakes his head and frowns at her. "But that wouldn't explain why your Flames feel different compared to the other Yunis. Even if you are truly from another dimension that has been created from resolving the Curse, your flames signature should be exactly the same as the rest. Besides, isn't that Lightning Guardian residing in the Vongola HQ? That's a bit far off from this area. No bazooka to switch the young Yuni with an older one here. Hm, right. Flames signature being distinctly same yet different at the same time. A Yuni from an alternate universe definitely sounds more plausible. It will at least explain why you're the abnormality of this world and your Flames."

"Well, since you don't know anything about your mother and Giglio Nero that makes you the first civilian Yuni in this dimension then!" The man beams at her and Yuni head hurts. A lot. Her mind is unable to cope with anything this crazy uncle Kawahira had just said.

She's an _abnormality_? (Rude. This man is spouting deranged, nonsensical stuff and _she's_ the odd one out?) Parallel worlds and different dimensions? Alternate universe? A _what_ -curse? Also, there's that flames again. Why is this man talking about _fire_ in the middle of a conversation that seems to be questioning her very own existence?

Yuni really wants to rip her hair out.

What is going on here? Nothing this man who has claimed to be her uncle is making sense!

Yuni glances back at the door behind her and wonders if it is too late to escape from this madman.

There is a ruffle on her head and Yuni snaps her attention back at the man. The man smiles reassuringly down at her. "It's all right, I'll explain it all to you in due time."

"Well then, now that things have been cleared up, you need a place to stay, don't you?" He claps his hands together and Yuni mentally slaps a hand onto her face. How is anything being cleared up? "You can stay here for a while. I'll take care of you. Do you want me to ring up Aria?"

"No!" Yuni blurts out at the mention of her mother's name and shies back when the man looks at her from the corner of his eyes. She has long decided to not rely on that woman who only gave birth to her and pamper her with gifts and loneliness. Aria has rarely spared a single glance at her and even if she did, Yuni knows that she is not looking at _her_ but the resemblance of Luce from the pictures.

Yuni doesn't want to have anything to do with her mother.

"Hm, yes. It might not be a good idea to inform Aria of your existence in this world. The Yuni here is, after all, a twelve years old girl." The man throws his head back and chuckles, his frame shaking with mirth. "Well, she will find out about it eventually with that Sight of hers."

Then, his laughing stops abruptly as his narrowed eyes flash towards the door.

Okay, perhaps Yuni should really get out of this place and far away from this weirdo, gut feeling be damned.

She turns and walk cautiously towards the door, and when she sees the man has no reaction, Yuni faintly ponders why he is suddenly so wary of the door. Well at least that meant that he is not planning to trap her here or something.

She is about to reach the exit when it suddenly swings wide open. A startled yelp escapes her and she looks up at the newcomer. A familiar face with a prominent purple tattoo under his left eye stares down at her. Yuni blinks at this new stranger. Her eyes widen in shock as his features click into place.

Isn't this man from the bar in her vision?

"Yuni-chan?" The white haired man breaths out in wonder as his purple eyes seem to drown in some sort of morbid fascination at the sight of her.

...What's with albinos knowing her name when they've only just met?

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Please leave a review on your way out!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary** : AU!Yuni finds herself in a universe where magical mafia is a thing but it's not that different from where she came from. Or a more apt description: a college student prioritising the wrong choices they think are right and probably should get a life.

/

Thank you to those for favouriting and following this story!

To readers, I hope you'll enjoy this fic of mine!

/

* * *

"Yuni-chan," the albino stranger with purple tattoo calls out to her, his hand reaching towards her as if he is trying to catch a wisp of a hallucination. He looks so lost at the sight of her and Yuni really, _really_ has no idea why. His eyes flicker to Kawahira and then back at her as he hovers unsteadily at the doorstep.

A hand comes down onto her shoulder and Yuni jumps. Kawahira is now standing directly behind her as he smiles impassively at the stranger. There is a cold glint in his eyes and she can feel cold sweat trickling down her neck. Yuni dares not to move.

"Yuni-chan," the stranger repeats again, but, this time, he sounds... happy?

His face suddenly blanks out and then there's a huge grin spreading across his face as he calls out her name again. The stranger takes a step forward, Yuni blinks, and all she can see is the back of the yukata Kawahira is wearing. The grin drops and the stranger scowls at Kawahira.

The intimidating expression is suddenly wiped off and there is a plastic smile plastered across his face.

"Who are you?"

The owner of the poorly managed antique shop adjusts his glasses with a finger. "That should be the question I should be asking. What do you want with my niece?"

The albino stranger frowns. His smile dips slightly. "Niece?" He echoes like he is tasting the foreign word at the tip of his tongue. "Yuni-chan, I didn't know you had an uncle."

 _'Uh, no. I don't know if I'm really related to this guy. I haven't even come to terms with being his niece. Actually, I didn't even knew I had an uncle._ ' Yuni wants to say but the words are stuck in her throat.

The stranger suddenly fixes a warm smile at her, completely different from the smile directed to Kawahira-ojii-san, and Yuni is a little creeped out by the man's fast paced mood swings.

"Yuni-chan, you look different." The stranger tells her. He is clearly ignoring the man dressed in the yukata and Yuni fidgets under his undivided attention. "I saw you across the streets just now and I wasn't sure if it was really you because I thought you'd be younger —" the man pauses, face morphing into confusion. "Aren't you supposed to be twelve this year?"

Kawahira twitches and Yuni wonders why does this man thinks that she's twelve.

...wait. Didn't this Kawahira-ojii-san also mentioned before something about a... twelve years old her...?

Does she really look _that_ young? Is it because of her height? _Ngh_ , Yuni knows she's shorter than her mother by about a few centimetres but she knows she doesn't look like a child.

These people are just too tall to judge her age based on first appearance. Yeah, that's right. They're already towering over her just by slouching! Her head barely reaches Kawahira-ojii-san's shoulders and the stranger is like —

Ugh, forget it. Yuni is short, and she knows that.

Oh, and there's something about flames again. Are these people pyromaniac, or what?

"Who are you?" She asks instead and almost regretted opening her mouth when the man all but beams at her.

"It's me, Byakuran!" He chirps happily and rubs a hand at his head with a sheepish smile. "Ah, but you might not know me because we haven't met yet in this world — Ah, no that's not correct. We've already met in this world but it got reset so you probably won't remember me. However, that's okay, because I know we will get along with each other well!"

...what.

"Sorry," Kawahira interjects, looking completely unapologetic. "But I'll appreciate it if you don't come closer to my niece."

The stranger, Byakuran, glares at the man with a twisted smile. "Hm? I don't recall Yuni having an uncle."

"I don't recall you being safe to hang out around with." Kawahira returns swiftly with a cold smile.

The man falters.

"I-I'm not him! I'm different." The stranger insists with a pinched expression and Yuni _knows_ she's missing out on a lot of details here. "I won't harm Yuni like that again. I saw the memories — I'm not him. I'm not controlled by..."

He looks at her with a desperate, helpless face.

"Yuni, please believe me. I'm sorry for what I've done. I'm really not _him_." The stranger cries out.

Yuni frowns. What does this man wants her to forgive him for? She knows she hasn't met him before but yet this stranger seems to be certain that he has harm her or something of sorts.

She studies the begging man before her. His broken voice claws at her heart and she feels a deep pang at the raw sincerity and sadness radiating from him.

"Uh, I think you may have the wrong person?" She offers weakly because, well, this is getting a bit too uncomfortable for her liking. The man shakes his head stubbornly.

Yuni looks to Kawahira for help. He is staring at the stranger, Byakuran, with that solemn, unreadable and stoic face again. She drops her gaze.

Then there is a tendril of warmth reaching out towards her and Yuni freezes when she feels something in her reaching back out. It feels like _harmony_. She gasps and snaps her head up and stares at the stranger with wide eyes. The man is looking straight at her with worry.

"Yuni-chan, why do your Flames feel different?"

She feels a hand grabbing her arm and doesn't protest when Kawahira plants her right next to his side.

 _What in the world was that? What did that man_ do _?_

"She's not the Yuni of this universe." She hears Kawahira sighing above her.

"Oh," is the albino man's reply. " _Oh_."

 _'Oh'? That's it?_

A spark of irritation bubbles in her and she wobbles on her feet. Yuni is clearly missing out on something that is obviously related to her and she wants to know what exactly these people problems are. "What is going on?" She snaps because she has had enough with all—

Only to stagger forward when a wave of vertigo rams into her and she drops to the ground. The hand on her arm is still there, and she's sort of thankful for it because she'd rather not smash her head against the floor.

A loud, rumbling noise of protest resound throughout the room and Yuni is absolutely sure her face is red. She refrains from smacking herself and mentally curses at her food-deprived stomach.

* * *

The sun has already long set yet Yuni is still in the antique shop. There is a hot bowl of ramen placed in front of her and it tastes delicious.

She picks another seasoned egg from the steaming bowl with her wooden chopsticks and her mouth revels at the soft texture and the burst of flavours from the egg yolk.

Food is a great distraction, she decides as she ignores both the man with glasses slurping his noodles noisily at her side and the mentally impaired albino grinning from ear to ear at her other side.

Yuni feels a little bit better now with the warm food provided to her. The constant ache of the migraine she has been suffering with since she woke up in Italia has now lessened to a dull throb. Her body is not shivering and she doesn't feel as exhausted as before.

She nods a thank you to Kawahira-ojii-san and he waves her off with foggy glasses.

"So, Yuni-chan," the bubbly, deranged stranger clasps his hands together and leans forward, his elbows resting against the table. "How old are you?"

She looks at him hesitantly.

"Twenty-two."

"Ah, no wonder I couldn't recognise you for a moment down at the street just now!" He concludes with a cheery smile as if her answer has told him everything he needed to know. "You really don't look like the usual Yuni! Your ponytail hair is gone — not that your hairstyle is bad or anything — you're a tiny bit taller, you look prettier and you're older!"

Yuni inwardly squints at Byakuran. Did this man _just_ realised that she's not a twelve years old child? No, in the first place, why is he assuming that she's twelve?

More importantly...

"If I'm not the 'usual Yuni', then... how do you know I'm Yuni?"

He blinks at her and shoots a bewildered look, as if he couldn't comprehend her question. For some reason, Yuni feels extremely insulted.

"Why would I not know that you are Yuni? You have the Giglio Nero stigma and there's your Sky Flames signature even though they do feel a little different than usual."

Yuni is at a loss for words. She really has no idea what is going on anymore. There are those terms again. Giglio Nero and... flames? Sky flames? What is this man talking about? Is she supposed to know those terms or what? Because she sure as hell doesn't know.

There is a palpable sense of confusion rising in her and Kawahira reaches out a hand to pat her head. Byakuran looks at her anxiously.

"Are you okay, Yuni-chan?"

"She's a civilian." Her uncle tells Byakuran. "She doesn't know anything about Flames nor the Giglio Nero."

"Huh." Byakuran gives Kawahira a blank stare.

"Alternate universe." Kawahira reminds. The words are stressed on his tongue for emphasis. "Different circumstances."

"Uhm, what's going on here?" Yuni forces out, food forgotten. It says a lot when she doesn't entertain the temptation to slam her chopsticks down onto the table and relents with gazing at the men with a hard stare instead. "What are you guys talking about? Can someone _please_ explain what's happening?"

Yuni is really sick and tired of being lost. Both figuratively and literally.

First she wakes up in a foreign place. She's not in Japan but in _Italia_. Repeating for emphasis. Yuni woke up in a freaking tomb in an unknown catacomb-of-sorts in an unknown remote area of _Italia_ when she had went to sleep in her apartment on her bed in _Japan_. She honestly doesn't know if she should thank her lucky stars that she had woken up in a country that she has been raised in, or if she should be screaming at the top of her lungs that she has been _fucking abducted_.

Then up came a man, who knows her name even though they have just met, claiming to be her uncle when Yuni is absolutely — about eighty-five percent — sure that she doesn't have any relatives other than her mother.

(Actually there's her other unknown parent but Kawahira clearly referred her as Aria's daughter. So, her mother's side it is then. Her mother must have been one heck of a person to handle with if she had decided to forgo whatever blood relations she has when she conceived Yuni. Doesn't change the fact that Kawahira is still a stranger. The ramen is nice though.)

And just like some sort of sick game, man after man, albino after albino, a deranged weirdo shows up and also happened to know her name like it is some common knowledge. Yuni has never even seen him in her entire life.

It is not even creepy anymore. It is just downright alarming.

How do they know her name? Who are these people?

Okay, maybe she could give Kawahira the benefit of doubt with the excuse of being her uncle thus somehow knows about her. But what about this Byakuran guy?

How does he knows her name? Lucky guess? Yeah right. If his reaction to her in both her vision and what happened just now in the shop were anything to go by, it's definitely not lucky guess. This man knows her and Yuni doesn't know why.

Actually she doesn't know anything anymore.

Her head is hurting again.

How do they know her?

The back of her neck tightens uncomfortably and it throbs in pain.

These people... weren't they talking something about flames?

A cold shiver runs down her spine and Yuni pushes her seat away from the table as she eyes the strangers warily.

That's right. These people were talking about fire and her throughout their entire conversation. There's also a mention of universe and Giglio-something.

Yuni's mouth is suddenly dry and there is a heavy pit in her stomach. She feels full even though she has barely eaten much of her dinner.

These people are part of a fucking cult or something, aren't they? The Giglio-shit is probably the name of their group and —

Yuni feels faint.

 _Dio mio_. What has she gotten herself into?

She's starting to curse, Yuni thinks belatedly, and she rarely goes off spouting vulgarities at every single chance she gets. The last time she hacked up a string of profanities in one go was when she had forgotten that her first semester exam of second year paper starts on Thursday.

Yuni managed to pull a miracle out of her ass and complete her essay even when she arrived to the examination hall forty minutes late. She got a D grade for that paper.

There is a hand resting on her head and Yuni blinks. Kawahira is staring silently at her.

(The hand feels warm. It makes her feel safe.)

"This is not your world." He finally says and Yuni's brain draws a blank. He sighs and adjusts his glasses, magically producing three cups of warm tea.

"You're in an alternate universe," he tells her slowly like he's teaching a toddler how to speak. "Where everything you know is probably different. We know of the Yuni here that's why we know _you're_ Yuni but _you_ don't know about us."

"In this universe, you are a twelve years old girl and are part of the mafia. Giglio Nero is the Famiglia you belong to." Byakuran happily munches on a fistful of marshmallows and Yuni almost does a double take. _Where did that bag of sweets came from?_

Dazedly, she pauses and waits for the information to sink into her head. It does not get processed.

Kawahira places something on the table and Yuni looks down. It is a picture of her. To be more precise, it is a picture of a younger her with... her mother?

Dressed in a simple white shirt with a dash of tiny pink floral prints and a plaid skirt, Yuni could be seen clinging happily onto Aria's arm. Aria, on the other hand, wore her usual dark red blouse and black pencil skirt and she had a warm smile spread across her features as the two stood in front of what seemed to be between a toy shop and a coffee shop.

Yuni hears her breath gets stuck in her throat rather than feels it. Her brows furrowed. She doesn't remember taking any pictures with her mother. And she also doesn't remember looking so happy with her mother.

(Her mother has never looked at her like that. Not that way.)

She traces the smiling faces and then her eyes find a blond man trailing after the two with a fond look. Yuni has never seen him before.

"That's Gamma," Byakuran points to the man she has been staring at for a while. He squishes a marshmallow between his fingers and pops it into his mouth. "In this universe, he's something like your guardian?"

"Oh, I see." She replies quietly but her focus is back on the happy little girl with her mother.

"That picture was taken a month ago." Kawahira informs her.

She nods.

The date is printed at the bottom of the picture. It's exactly a decade ago from the year she knows.

Yuni doesn't remember being out in the streets with her mother looking so happy when she was twelve. She doesn't remember having taken a photo with her mother before other than her graduation pictures.

 _This is not your world._

She remembers coming home to an empty house. She remembers her mother brushing her aside when she trots up to her for a bedtime story. She remembers Aria's voice on the phone but it's hard to remember how she looks like sometimes.

 _You're in an alternate universe._

She sucks in another breath.

"Yuni-chan—"

"If," Yuni interrupts an alarmed Byakuran, "if what you say is really true, and this is not some sort of dream, then this world... me is..."

 _...she is happy with her mother._

( _Something that you could never have_ , a harsh voice whispers darkly in her mind. _You're not worth anything to Aria. That's why, you see, why you're always left alone. Rejected. See see see—_ )

Yuni closes her eyes. Acceptance echoed in her.

(It's okay. It's alright. At least I know that somewhere out there... across the dimensions and universe where mother at least cares for me.)

She wipes away stray tears and Kawahira inches a cup of warm tea closer to her. She takes it. The drink burns away the pain lodged in her chest.

Yuni kind of wishes that Kawahira doesn't remove his hand from her head. She misses the warmth. How strange.

"Aria is like a long lost, distant and many times removed cousin to me and that makes her daughter, Yuni, my niece. By default, that makes you my niece too, ignoring the alternate universe factor." Kawahira calmly sips his tea. "With that said, I shall be your legal guardian."

Byakuran chucks a marshmallow at Kawahira's head. The man doesn't even bat an eye when the sticky sweet cling onto his hair. Byakuran looks furious.

"I've been to many parallel worlds but I don't recall Yuni having another relative. I don't what you're trying to play at but I'm not letting some _stranger_ to take Yuni—"

"And I shall be teaching you about Flames." Kawahira continues on like the other man on the table didn't matter to him.

Byakuran slams his fist onto the table and Yuni flinches back. He is glaring murder at Kawahira. He opens his mouth but Kawahira beats him to it.

"You have no right to be involved with Yuni any further, former Mare Sky Holder."

A cold smile twists on his lips.

"Or shall I remind you what you had done to this universe Yuni? What you have made her do? What you have forced her to do throughout the dimensions of parallel worlds?"

"What... how... you... "

Byakuran pales. Yuni looks between the both of them worriedly.

Kawahira taps a finger on the table. His mouth curves into a smirk and it opens —

In a second, Byakuran is crouched in front of her, hands grasping onto hers, and murmuring incoherent words. She bents down to catch them.

 _"Sorry — didn't mean to — was not in my right mind — I'm sorry — forgive me —"_

Her eyes widen. Why is this man begging for forgiveness?

She glances at Kawahira but he is staring at Byakuran with an unreadable look.

"Huh," her uncle says at last. "He's more unstable in this world."

Yuni frowns at his indifferent remark. She ignores him and gathers the broken man in her arms. She hesitantly pats his back and tries to soothe him.

"It's okay." She tells him. Then, she pauses because she somehow _knows_ that any other words won't work on him. So Yuni takes a deep breath, cradles Byakuran's face with one hand and smiles at him. "It's alright. Everything is alright now."

She doesn't say 'I forgive you'.

 _Because I don't know what am I supposed to forgive._

The magic of the words are instantaneous. The sheer of raw relief flooding the man's prone form is so blinding and Yuni can feel her heart breaking a little.

"I'm so sorry," the man whispers brokenly as Yuni rubs his back. "I'm so sorry for ruining you."

Yuni looks back at Kawahira and her uncle finally got the hint.

"Before he is now, Byakuran has been antagonising the whole universe by planning to conquer parallel worlds and take control of the Tri-Ni-Sette." Kawahira explains.

"Tri-Ni-Sette?" Yuni echoes uncertainly.

"The Tri-Ni-Sette is a device that maintains balance of life forces in the universe. There are three sets of this device: the Arcobaleno Pacifier, Vongola Rings and Mare Rings."

"This man is the former Sky bearer of the Mare Rings and he killed the other bearers guarding the device. He also needed the Yuni of this universe to help him achieve his goal because she is the Sky Arcobaleno. Yuni did not go down without a fight. She died in every single parallel world in this universe through sacrifice."

Yuni goes still and she can feel Byakuran tremble beneath her. The words are cutting through the air like a knife and the sobs are coming back.

"He killed many people."

Kawahira looks into her eyes.

"This man is this universe Yuni's murderer."

Oh.

"No!" Byakuran protests in her arms. "I'm not _him_! I won't harm you! I — _Yuni_...!"

"Yuni died at the age of thirteen in all of these parallel worlds he had ruined."

"No _no_ , Yuni, I won't do it again —"

Byakuran is desperately shaking her arms now but Yuni feels numb. She thinks back to the photo she has just saw. The young Yuni smiling so brightly with her mother.

"What happened next?" She asks. Kawahira blinks at her. Byakuran sobs her name and she merely smiles weakly at him. It doesn't feel like she's smiling. "I want to know what happened next. You said 'before he is now', so something must have happened after, right?"

Kawahira flicks his glasses. "Well, one of the bearers, together with Yuni, managed to seal the Mare Rings away and defeat Byakuran so he won't be able to do anymore harm and, in return, it resets the destruction done to all parallel worlds in this universe."

Yuni takes a deep breath and closes her eyes.

"Okay." She says quietly.

.

.

.

Later, Kawahira closes his shop.

Byakuran tries to reach out to her but she only offers a strained smile. Kawahira merely gives a sharp, deadpan stare at the man. Byakuran falters and returns Yuni a small smile. The broken albino leaves without a sound, but Yuni can still hear his begging cries resounding in her ears.

(She faintly wonders how he is going to find his way back home so late in the night.)

Uncle Kawahira takes one look at her and ushers her into the bathroom with a change of clothes.

It is only when Yuni sees dirt swirling in the water crashing down at her feet as she scrubs her body that she realises that she has forgotten how filthy she is.

Kawahira takes her dirty clothes with him when she steps out of the shower in the comfy, pink dress he has given her and lets her stay in one of the spare rooms on the second floor of his shop.

Yuni is really grateful but she doesn't have the faintest energy to thank him. He gives her a sidelong glance with a knowing look and tells her to rest. It has been a long day after all.

She all but tumbles into the bed, switching off the bedside lamp as she goes.

(Her head hurts but Yuni wonders why she isn't hyperventilating or going crazy with everything being dropped like a bomb on her. She misses that hand on her head.

It made her feel safe.

It lessened the pain.

It calms her mind.

It reminds her of...)

Her head hits the pillow and she's out like a light.

* * *

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